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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051262">The Soldier with Sky-Blue Eyes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/schneescake/pseuds/schneescake'>schneescake</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>100 Theme Challenge [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, WhiteWitch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:54:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,560</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051262</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/schneescake/pseuds/schneescake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Winter is assigned to guard General Ironwood's most dangerous prisoner. A creature of grimm in the form of a beautiful, mysterious woman.<br/>(37 of the 100 theme challenge.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Salem/Winter Schnee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>100 Theme Challenge [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131356</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Soldier with Sky-Blue Eyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My first entry for my RWBY 100 theme challenge, written in any order.</p><p>The prompt for this one is 'Eyes'. </p><p>It's fun to let an idea grow from a single word. I really loved writing this. It's been a long time since I wrote a story without planning anything before starting. </p><p>Salem/Winter are my new ship and I'm really enjoying them so far. I've decided a good ship name for them is 'WhiteWitch'. I think it's fitting and it's also a shout out to Jadis from the Chronicles of Narnia.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Striding down the sterile corridor of Atlas’ top secret military prison, Special Operative Winter Schnee came to a halt outside of the high security cell containing an unlikely prisoner. Winter pushed aside her apprehension, typing in the code to the door before stepping inside the darkened cell. </p><p>In the middle of the small space, sat a woman- a creature of grimm unlike any other. </p><p>The first thing that Winter noticed about her were her eyes. Black, ominous pools with a blood red center, emitting a soft glow beneath the dim, blinking light above. There was something about those eyes that frightened Winter. Not because she was afraid of them...but because she was not. </p><p>Piercing crimson stared upon her hardened expression and Winter felt as if this strange creature was seeing into her soul. Many may have faltered beneath the grimm’s stare, but unlike those before her, Winter found she had trouble looking away. </p><p>While the creature’s eyes were most certainly unique, unlike any Winter had ever seen, so was her gleaming white hair, folded into an intricate bun, styled with black ribbon and various, small, decorative beads. She was strange looking, as expected, but there was something regal about how she presented herself that Winter hadn’t been prepared for.</p><p>“So they have sent another to harass me with unnecessary questions,” the being finally spoke, her tone slow and deliberate. A bored sigh exhaled from the witch’s lips, and finally her eyes drifted from Winter’s rigid stance to settle on the door beside her.<br/><br/>Part of Winter was tempted to respond, to correct the detainee. She was not here to question her, only to watch her. General Ironwood had requested Winter specifically, claiming he had no other guards left he could trust with such an important duty, that the others had all failed him.</p><p>Winter’s eyes narrowed, and she said nothing. The creature seemed amused by her silence.<br/><br/>“Giving me the cold shoulder?” came the prisoner’s feigned offended remark, and Winter was once again drawn to her strange eyes. When they locked with her own, Winter felt compelled to answer.<br/><br/>“I was ordered to stand guard, not engage in idle chit chat.” To Winter’s alarm, the woman laughed. It was cold and devoid of emotion, and it sent a chill down her spine from how wrong it sounded.</p><p>“Oh, I like you,” the witch murmured, a sly smile curling on her face. </p><p>Winter felt her heartbeat quicken by the unusual declaration. The only indication it had bothered her was in how she repositioned herself. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her arms folding behind her back tightly.</p><p>At first Winter was certain she would prefer silence, but as she felt the witch’s eerie stare upon her yet again, all but devouring her, she decided that perhaps idle chit chat wasn’t so terrible after all.</p><p>“Come now, won’t you introduce yourself? Your predecessor was kind enough to do so. I was disappointed to learn he would be leaving.”<br/><br/>“Operative Clover requested reassignment due to a personal issue which is none of your concern. Neither is my identity,” Winter stiffly answered. </p><p>“My, we do take our role seriously,” the witch observed with a smirk. When Winter remained silent, jutting her chin out in defiance, the prisoner’s eyes sparkled with a hint of mirth. “Hm, regardless of your stubbornness, you may call <em> me </em> Salem.” </p><p>The instinct to return the introduction was almost too hard to resist, but Winter held her composure, readjusting her stance again. Salem waited patiently, her eyes narrowing as she stared harder at Winter.</p><p>“I know those eyes.”<br/><br/>“What did you say?” Winter bristled, arms dropping to her sides.<br/><br/>“Your eyes, they’re like the sky,” Salem said. Winter felt her ears grow hot from a strange feeling she couldn’t describe. It felt like irritation and embarrassment, but with something new, something unsettling.</p><p>“You don’t know me,” she felt the need to reaffirm in a hard tone, but Salem had a faraway look on her face that Winter couldn’t figure out.<br/><br/>“No, but I know your eyes,” Salem murmured, “you’re a Schnee, aren’t you?”</p><p>Winter’s eyes widened in shock, and it was the only confirmation Salem needed. A smile of understanding took shape upon the creature’s lips, and she relaxed in her chair as if she had uncovered a great secret.<br/><br/>“How could you possibly-” Winter found herself asking, but shook her head, forcing herself to cease her engagement in the conversation. She cut herself off with an irritated exhale, glaring off to the side to avoid the woman’s- no, the <em> creature’s </em>satisfied expression.  </p><p>She had been warned of Salem’s manipulation, of her clever tactics to disarm those who would stand watch. Ironwood had told Winter all about Salem’s previous guardsmen. How they had either succumbed to her will and revealed information that had compromised Atlas’ security, or succumbed to her appearance and lost their minds from the frightful sight of protruding veins and black, soulless eyes.</p><p>That was why he had chosen Winter. Her loyalty would ensure the security of Atlas’ classified information, and her control over her fear would keep her from breaking under the creature’s unsettling visage.</p><p>“I knew your grandfather. He was a wonderful man,” Salem continued as if they were simply getting to know one another. Winter’s jaw locked from how hard she clenched it, doing her best to ignore the witch’s attempt to keep her talking, and her absurd claim.<br/><br/>“You have his eyes. Though I must say yours are far more beautiful,” Winter wasn’t expecting that. Her jaw softened enough to allow her mouth to open in surprise, and against her better judgement, she shifted her so-called ‘beautiful eyes’ to settle upon where Salem was sitting, one leg gracefully crossed atop the other.<br/><br/>Salem met her eyes and Winter swallowed thickly, dropping contact to avoid the witch’s strange irises, only to find her gaze had fallen to the creature’s body. It was as if Winter was really seeing her for the first time, processing the slim curve of her waist, the silk fabric clinging to her figure, the teasing opening where her cleavage was visible, a proud display of the woman’s heaving chest-</p><p>“We really must work on your manners,” Salem spoke, breaking Winter from her staring.<br/><br/>“Excuse me?” Winter found the witch’s eyes again.<br/><br/>“It’s rude to stare, Ms. Schnee...and I feel rather ogled at by those eyes of yours,” Salem confessed with a feigned look of innocence, as if Winter was the unruly pervert and she was a sweet young woman victim to the operative’s hungry gawking. “I come to expect such a reaction from the men they send to watch over me...but from you as well? How curious.”</p><p>Winter felt her face flush with warmth at the accusation, the unfortunate reaction hardly something she could hide, against the pale tone of her skin. She glared at the witch before turning her gaze to focus on the wall behind the prisoner.<br/><br/>Finally, Salem seemed too preoccupied with contemplation to speak again, and Winter felt as if she could breathe for a moment. It often took Winter longer to process things, her quick, busy mind filled with every possible outcome or meaning of a word or scenario.<br/><br/>“Don’t call me that,” breaking the silence, Winter frowned as it dawned on her what had been bothering her, surprisingly, the most, about their interactions. The reminder of her family name was something she had grown accustomed to when the General would use her surname, but there was something aggravating about hearing it from the prisoner’s mouth.<br/><br/>Salem’s eyes were upon her again, boring into her, clearly trying to understand what Winter was referring to across the lengthy silence they had just endured.<br/><br/>“Then what am I to call you instead?” she asked carefully, her tone impassive and calm.<br/><br/>Winter shifted her weight, hands tightening behind her back. So this Salem was to get what she wanted after all, by making it on Winter’s terms and not her own. Ironwood had obviously downplayed how clever she was...or perhaps he wasn’t aware just how intelligent his top priority prisoner seemed to be.<br/><br/>“Winter,” she answered stiffly.<br/><br/>“Winter…” Salem repeated, feeling the young woman’s name upon her lips.</p><p>To hear it uttered in such a gentle tone made Winter feel indescribably concerned, but yet again it was not from discomfort...but from how warm it made her feel.</p><p>“How long will you be staying with me, Winter?” Salem asked quietly. Winter risked a glance at her to check the intent behind the question, only to find an odd look on the witch’s face. It almost looked like…</p><p><em> She’s lonely. </em>Winter frowned, the familiarity of that feeling unsettling her.</p><p>“The General has assigned me to your cell for fifteen hours; after which surveillance will take command of my duty,” she explained.<br/><br/>“I see,” the witch exhaled a tired sigh, drawing Winter’s gaze. “And how do you feel about that?”</p><p>“That’s none of your-” Winter immediately retorted only to be interrupted.<br/><br/>“Business? No, I suppose it is not,” Salem finished for her. Winter stared long and hard at the creature- the <em> woman </em> sat before her.<br/><br/>Was this another game she was playing to find out more about what General Ironwood had planned? Or was she really just trying to make conversation for the sake of it? It wasn’t as if she had anything else to do inside these four walls every minute of every day.<br/><br/>“I’m a soldier,” Winter folded her arms across her chest, “my feelings are irrelevant. It’s my job to follow orders.”<br/><br/>Salem seemed to think on her words for a moment, “why must the two be opposing forces? Surely one does not negate the other?”<br/><br/>Winter opened her mouth to respond, only to falter. Her gloved fingers squeezed around her folded arms. “When upholding the kingdom’s safety is dependent upon my duties, how I feel must be secondary to how I act.” </p><p>“And what happens on the day you can no longer follow your orders?” Salem met Winter’s eyes, and the intensity of her serious expression almost concerned her.</p><p>“Then, I suppose, I would have to follow my heart,” Winter dropped her gaze, her arms returning to behind her back. Salem watched her silently before closing her eyes.<br/><br/>They did not speak to one another again.</p><p> </p><p>~ **** ~</p><p> </p><p>Months passed, with Winter following her orders, standing watch over Salem’s prison cell every day for fifteen hours. After that first meeting, General Ironwood had contacted Winter to check on her, and continued to do so every few days.<br/><br/>He would often ask if Salem had told her anything that may have been a potential lead to help them discover what she was or what she wanted. Sometimes he asked if Winter needed to discuss anything that bothered her.<br/><br/>There had been one issue in the back of her mind since day one, but how could Winter explain it to the General without him questioning her sanity? To be attracted to Salem...not just for her appearance but her elegance, her intelligence, the mysteries surrounding her sealed off heart; to be attracted to this woman the General would have her call a creature of grimm...what would he say? He would surely dismiss her from her duty and have her evaluated.</p><p>And so Winter did what she always did with feelings she could not confide in or express - she pushed them away, deep inside her heart, never to be acknowledged or touched upon again. Work became difficult, Ironwood grew more paranoid by the day, fearing Salem and what her presence truly meant.<br/><br/>Ozpin had still not returned since his disappearance. Without his guidance, Ironwood did not understand Salem’s true identity. He knew not that the woman he kept locked away in his high security prison was the woman from Ozpin’s past. The all-powerful being who could command grimm at the flick of a wrist. Ironwood did not know of this Salem, the Salem Ozpin had failed to name, failed to explain - to save him from the horrible truth. </p><p>Ironwood knew nothing of Winter’s Salem, either.</p><p>He knew nothing about how the soldier with the pretty sky-blue eyes had found herself able to talk to another person for the first time in her life without fear of rejection. A single individual who listened to her concerns without judgement, without silencing her, without seeing her as a mindless soldier. Even Winter had begun to see herself that way - just there to do her duty. Nothing more. </p><p>It was ironic, that the woman Ironwood was so afraid of was able to support Winter more than he had done for her entire military career. How the prisoner she was supposed to be guarding had helped her feel more liberated than any other.</p><p>Ironwood didn’t know what Salem had confided in her. He didn’t know how she had been betrayed by the one person she would have done anything for, or how she was outcast by the world, always alone, always burdened by her pain and her past.</p><p>Winter knew how dangerous it was, that she had come to care for Salem, despite what she was. She knew it could only end in disaster...but it was her job to guard her cell. And so, instead of risking Ironwood discovering what it was she really felt, Winter continued to follow her orders.</p><p>At 07:00 sharp, Winter was outside of Salem’s cell as usual, typing in the code to unlock the doors and step inside, with coffee in one hand and two books balanced under her arm. Surveillance was kept on minimum until Winter’s shift finished, meaning she had taken some liberties over the past few months, for her own sanity. And for the prisoner’s.<br/><br/>“Good morning,” Winter greeted as she sealed the doors behind her. Salem was lying against the flat block that was her ‘bed’, eyes closed as if she were asleep. Winter knew better than to assume as such.<br/><br/>“I’ve yet to see what is so good about it,” Salem muttered under her breath, not even opening her eyes.<br/><br/>“Ah, so we’re in one of those moods today,” Winter observed, crossing the cell to grab the abandoned chair and seat herself in it. She placed the books on the floor beside her coffee. Salem grunted in acknowledgement of the statement, turning on the block to face away from where she’d heard Winter sit down. </p><p>Winter watched with mild amusement at Salem’s irritated behaviour, only to have her eyes settle upon where the witch’s arms were cuffed behind her back. The large metal restraints were at her wrists, sealing them together with technology that would burn her severely if she tried to get out of them.<br/><br/>“Where did those handcuffs come from?” Winter exhaled sharply, feeling anger churn in her stomach.<br/><br/>“One of General Ironwood’s soldiers,” Salem tiredly said, her fingers twitching where the heat of the tech kept her skin itching and far too hot to ever be comfortable.<br/><br/>Winter stood from her chair, finally catching Salem’s attention as the witch cast a glance over her shoulder. The operative was pacing across the small space of the cell back and forth, the flick in her step giving away how angry she was at the mistreatment.<br/><br/>“I must have done something to warrant the punishment,” Salem smirked and Winter wasn’t sure if she wanted to groan or cry with frustration.<br/><br/>“What did you do?” Winter’s tone turned accusatory and Salem’s smirk widened.<br/><br/>“I may have let my hands wander...I couldn’t help myself, I was thinking of you,” Salem crooned and Winter felt her cheeks turn red. She sighed and brought a hand to her face.<br/><br/>“Tell me what <em> actually </em> happened,” Winter bit out through grit teeth.<br/><br/>“I was restrained in the early hours of the morning on dearest James’ orders.”<br/><br/>“Why would the General order that without informing me?” Winter frowned.<br/><br/>“How ever am I to know?” Salem said, clearly disgruntled. She shifted to sit up, her arms forced behind her back from the cuffs.<br/><br/>“They’re hurting you,” Winter’s voice softened, her eyes focused on where Salem’s fingers were shaking, her muscles jarred from the heat of the tech.<br/><br/>“Only considerably, yes,” Salem sarcastically responded, but faltered at the look of genuine concern on Winter’s face. It turned into determination, as her pacing came to a sudden halt. Instead, Winter strode the short distance between them, kneeling in front of where Salem sat.<br/><br/>“Turn around,” Winter ordered. </p><p>Salem bit her lip, shifting to present her arms to the soldier. Winter wasted no time, immediately taking the large cuffs in her hands to find the hidden panel underneath. “This model is supposed to be used for temporary detainment only. Prolonged exposure can cause serious damage,” Winter explained with barely contained anger. Calculating the code was likely to match the one at the door, Winter input the numbers, feeling the cuffs deactivate.<br/><br/>Salem sighed in relief as the uncomfortable heat around her wrists eased, her hands aching from the strain on her muscles. Winter carefully slipped Salem’s wrists free of the contraption, casting it aside with disdain. </p><p>Winter took one of Salem’s wrists in her hands, turning it over to see the raw red skin where the cuffs had burned her. Winter’s frown deepened, her fingers gently running along the mark. She hastily drew them back when Salem lightly flinched. </p><p>“I will speak with the General about this,” Winter promised.<br/><br/>“Thank you,” Salem said softly, her arms rising to rest over Winter’s shoulders. </p><p>Salem sought eye contact. </p><p>Winter avoided it at first, looking down to stare at the floor where she was still crouching.<br/><br/>“Winter,” Salem called to her, “let me see your eyes.”<br/><br/>At the request, Winter found herself looking up into the woman’s own dark eyes. Looking into the blackened pools and bright crimson, Winter was frozen.<br/><br/>“The sky is beautiful today,” Salem breathed out.</p><p>Winter felt her heart thumping against her chest, “I-” she cut herself off at the gentle touch of the witch’s hand cradling her cheek. The unexpected caress shut off whatever protest had attempted to form on her lips, as the soldier let the prisoner’s fingers trace a pattern over her jaw.</p><p>As the woman’s other hand moved to hold the opposite side of her face, Winter understood what was about to happen, and despite the screaming warnings in her mind, she did nothing to halt Salem’s advances. </p><p>Soft, inviting lips met with her own in a grateful kiss. Winter’s eyes fluttered shut. She let Salem kiss her, lightly returning the motion, her hands coming to rest on either side of where Salem sat, fingers squeezing firmly down against the block to stop them from touching anywhere else.</p><p>Salem hummed into their contact, but the moment she turned the soft kiss into something with deeper intent, Winter jolted away. The witch’s tongue had teased across her upper lip, and the throb it had ignited inside the soldier had woken her to what was going on.</p><p>Winter stumbled back, managing to stand, touching her mouth in disbelief.  </p><p>“Why did you do that?” she demanded, flustered and annoyed, mostly at herself for allowing it to happen. Salem smiled slowly, no shame on her face, no regret, and no backing down from the eye contact she so intensely kept locked.  “Have you nothing to say for yourself?” Winter asked incredulously. <br/><br/>“Would you like another?” Salem offered.<br/><br/>Winter felt heat pool in more than one place, though the tint of her cheeks was where it was visible to Salem, who’s smile grew from the secret answer she knew Winter would never give. Instead, Winter sighed and shook her head with frustration, storming over to the books she’d brought.<br/><br/>“Here,” Winter muttered, offering one of them to Salem. Salem chuckled, accepting the book, shifting to get more comfortable on her ‘bed’ so she could begin to read it.</p><p>Winter sat back down in the chair, grabbed her coffee and had a large gulp of it, before she focused on reading too. An hour passed in silence, but Winter hadn’t been reading her book at all. Her face was hidden behind it, but instead of taking in any of the words, she’d been thinking about what happened between them the entire time.<br/><br/>Her mind wandered to all sorts of places, stupid fantasies of Winter running away with her, just like the Girl in the Tower. Winter taking on the role of the knight rescuing the princess from her prison...it was ridiculous how her heart ached over the foolish notion.</p><p>After imagining all of the fates that would never be, Winter thought harder about the implications of Salem’s actions. She had kissed her on purpose, but to what end? Did Salem really care for her, as she had come to wonder over the last months, or was it all one big ploy to trick her so that Salem could finally escape?</p><p>What was Ironwood thinking and why had he mistreated Salem, why hadn’t he confided in her about it? Did he not trust her? After everything Winter had done for him, all she had sacrificed…to help <em> him </em> to succeed...</p><p>After mulling over her tiresome thoughts, Winter had fallen victim to simply admiring Salem. Every so often she would slightly lower her book to gaze over the top of it at where the prisoner was sitting. She watched the witch’s fingers dancing over the pages, soaking in each word with those captivating eyes...eyes which had just drifted lazily from the book to stare into hers. Winter let out a surprised sound when their gazes met, hurriedly lifting her book to hide herself behind it.</p><p>“How much longer are we going to continue this silly game of pretending to read?” Salem asked with a hint of amusement. Winter sighed, but didn’t lower the book.<br/><br/>“I thought you really <em> were </em> reading,” she said sheepishly.<br/><br/>“Well I grew tired of waiting for you to accept my offer,” Winter almost dropped the book. Thankfully she managed to keep a hold of it as she stayed hidden inside the unread pages. She settled for no remark, deciding reading was a much safer choice than talking or...anything else.</p><p>Winter heard Salem snap her book shut, then the shift of her heels as she stood up. Within seconds the book in her hand was yanked out of her fingers and snapped shut to accompany the other. Winter barely had time to acknowledge what was happening before a warm, light body was straddling her lap.<br/><br/>“What are you-” Winter panicked, but a single finger pressed against her lips to silence her protest.</p><p>“You’re good at taking orders, so listen closely,” Salem murmured, leaning beside Winter’s ear. “Stop fighting what it is that you want...and kiss me.”</p><p>Something inside the soldier melted, and this time when Winter did as she was told, she did it with great pride. Trembling hands found their way to Salem’s hips as she leaned in to kiss her, albeit a little sloppy in her execution.</p><p>Salem took control of the embrace, her fingers rising to pop open the first few buttons of Winter’s blouse, hearing a muffled sound where the soldier was battling the urge to stop her. Once Salem had finished loosening the tense woman’s attire, she broke the kiss, pleased to find Winter looking dazed, in awe of her.<br/><br/>“Isn’t it liberating to follow orders <em> and </em> acknowledge how you truly feel?” Salem whispered, her eyes glowing brightly from how pleased she was. Winter inhaled sharply from the sight, as it dawned on her she was in far too deep to save herself now.</p><p>
  <em> What have I done? If the General learns of this… </em>
</p><p>Winter’s concerns were drowned out when Salem’s fingers slipped to open her shirt enough to expose her neck. A hot mouth was on her skin in seconds. Winter moaned, her hips shifting under Salem’s where she had her pinned to the chair.</p><p>“You are so much more than what he thinks of you, Winter,” came the sweet reassurance from the witch’s lips as she left a trail of burning kisses over the clenched muscle at Winter’s neck. Winter felt as if she were drunk on the witch’s touch, her body starved of contact for so long… </p><p>Winter was tired of feeling underappreciated, ignored, cast aside - always secondary to her orders. But without purpose, what was she? Without her orders, who was she?</p><p>Winter’s hands tightened their hold of Salem’s hips, her eyes fluttering shut as the daylight sky welcomed the darkening black of night.</p><p> </p><p>~ **** ~</p><p> </p><p>“It was a test, Winter, and I’m sorry to say, but you failed.”</p><p>Ironwood was sitting behind his desk, the distance between himself and his trusted soldier a clear symbol to the operative. Winter’s hands clenched tightly.<br/><br/>“With all due respect, General, I’d like to know why you felt that was necessary,” Winter asked, struggling to keep her tone respectful and level.<br/><br/>“I was testing the reach of your loyalty. You were given orders. Orders to guard the prisoner, nothing more. I had reports of you breaking a rule here and there, taking the creature luxuries to indulge in, but I let it slide. I let it go, because I trusted you, I trusted that you knew better. Now I’m led to believe you engaged in physical contact with it? Do you have any idea what this means?”</p><p>“Sir, <em> she </em> is not a mere creature, if you would just let me explain,” Winter argued but Ironwood stood from his seat, his eyes wild with paranoia and rage.<br/><br/>“That’s enough,” he shouted, the echo bouncing around the horribly spacious, cold room. </p><p>Winter wanted to respond, she wanted to explain how she felt...but it was too hard to break free from her ingrained ways. Winter swallowed her words, her face hardening with contained anger and hurt.<br/><br/>“I question your stability, Schnee. The creature has clearly gotten into your head, like the others. I have no choice but to intervene. You are to take a leave of absence effective immediately while I decide what to do with you,” Ironwood ordered. </p><p>Winter felt her anger ignite, she wanted to cry, she wanted to throw a punch, she wanted to refuse, she wanted to stop being told what to do, she wanted to defend Salem, she wanted to <em> scream </em> .<br/><br/>“Yes sir,” Winter’s posture followed her training, military stance activating, head high, shoulders back, arm shooting up to perform a perfected salute. She turned on her heel, heading for the door. </p><p> </p><p>~ **** ~</p><p> </p><p>Salem looked up in surprise as the doors to her cell opened, revealing two men she had never seen before. It was well into the night, and usually she went undisturbed, left alone with surveillance and her thoughts as her only company.<br/><br/>“Get up, you’re being moved,” one of the soldiers gruffly announced. Salem glared at him, crossing her arms.<br/><br/>“Are you deaf? Move!” The other demanded.<br/><br/>“She’s not going anywhere with you.” One soldier turned in his confusion, only to have his head smashed into his companion’s. Salem watched Winter step over their bodies as they fell to the floor unconscious. She offered Salem her hand.<br/><br/>“Come, we don’t have much time.”<br/><br/>Salem met Winter’s eyes. </p><p>
  <em> Freed from my prison once again by a brave soul.  </em>
</p><p>She reached to take Winter’s hand.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The theme in this turned out to kind of be a little teaser for a planned fic I have in the future for these two so that was a neat little accident from my brain lol. Also yes, the title is a reference to Zack Fair from Final Fantasy VII because I love him to pieces.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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